Bainbridge is a community of mainly locally-owned businesses which help to give the place its small-town flavor. Visitors can pick up some hardware, browse a downtown gift shop, stop to visit an antique store, or eat a hearty meal in the diner or cafe.
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However, visitors who walk the streets of downtown Bainbridge will also see a village that hearkens back to a past century or two, with interesting architecture that represents a range of nineteenth and twentieth century influences. Bainbridge homes and businesses are generally modest in design, but there are examples of more unusual features such as Gothic, Italianate and bungalow styles, for example. Parts of downtown are included in the Bainbridge Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The commercial buildings downtown were mostly constructed during a post-Civil War period of expansion, after a series of fires destroyed the previous wood frame buildings.
The downtown district is primarily brick with large plate glass windows in the shop fronts. A substantial part of downtown is the 1910 town hall block, a large, three story neoclassic building where the theatre, the library, the town offices and other businesses are located.
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One of the main features of downtown is the village green with New England-style churches around it, reflecting the prosperity of the town in its early days of growth and the New England origins of its settlers. The white frame structure in the center of town, once known as the Old Jericho Tavern, is the oldest commercial building in the downtown, originally a tavern at the crossroads of two major transportation avenues.
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The homes on West Main Street are some of the most elegant in the village. They are located on large lots on a tree-lined street. Styles include Queen Anne, Greek revival, Federal, craftsman and gothic. Also on West Main, the vintage railroad station now houses the Bainbridge Village offices.
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Stroll through downtown and think what the village was once like as a major center for trade and transportation, now at the cross roads of state routes 7 and 206. It is still an easy, enjoyable village to walk around, absorb some history and architecture, and then enjoy the shops of the businesses that are in place today.
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